160 Year Old Jane Doe Case - The Lady Who Danced Herself to Death
Urban Legend, Halloween Tale or Genealogical Mystery?
Since then I have become involved with a group of people called the DoeNetwork and we work unidentified cases throughout the world.
I first learned about the Harrodsburg case in late June, 2002. I was looking for an adventure in Kentucky and this one showed up in the search. And she was right up my alley! A Jane Doe.... in Kentucky - more than a century ago! "The Lady Who Danced Herself To Death" is about a 160 year old case! By far the oldest Jane Doe case I have ever encountered. Fitting she should be in Kentucky's oldest town of Harrodsburg - Buried at the edge of Young's Park. She is, by far, the oldest case to grace the files of the DoeNetwork as 265UFKY. There are several clues left behind as to who she might have been… alias, Virginia Stafford ... maybe Mollie Black Sewell?
As I communicated with the Mercer County Public Library and a member of the local historical society ...I learned about her registering as Miss Virginia Stafford, a fictitious name. She claimed to be the daughter of a Louisville Judge… but it seems this particular judge didn't have a daughter. Might there have been a clue left behind in Louisville folklore? And years later ... Mr. Joe Sewell in Tazewell, Tennessee allegedly claims that estranged wife, Mollie Black Sewell, was the mystery woman.
Even further rumors that she had a child who grew up in Laurel County, Kentucky. Maybe even unaware of his past? Maybe something that local historians from those areas can help lend a clue. I have uncovered a clue that a man named Joe Sewell did exist during that time period in Tazewell ...but I have seen nothing on Mollie Sewell or a Mollie Black. And since none of the family ever officially came forward to verify any of the pieces to this mystery, this leaves her with a tentative ID at best. The initial lure to the tale for me was the ghost story. I indeed did spend an evening at the park.
I hoped to catch a glimpse of the girl .... who in Dr. Lynwood Montell's book, Ghosts along the Cumberland, ...still haunts the park. Could a clue lie in the southern tales of apparitions dancing in the park? Try as I might ... she and I did not cross paths that night. But are there those out there that have seen what they think to be the spirit of the "Girl Who Danced Herself To Death" at Graham Springs ... around 160 years ago? I have to wonder how time has distorted the tale ... what really happened that night at the hotel? Why did she use a fictitious name .... and I venture further to say ... is she still here among us? On a case like this one, a different approach is required. I can't find a private investigator ... or check driving records or the NCIC. We have to go back a bit more ... folklore, ghost stories and genealogy records. I hope anyone out there that might have information of any kind on the case would share it with me.
Urban Legend, Halloween tale or genealogical mystery?
Published by Todd Matthews
Todd's calling to be a voice for missing and unidentified persons began when he solved the identity of the "Tent Girl" case, Barbara Hackman-Taylor, after a ten-year journey that ended in 1998. View profile
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3 Comments
Post a CommentThe Lone Grave by Vincent Price
http://affiliate.kickapps.com/_11-The-Lone-Grave/audio/414784/58190.html
Where theres a will theres a way and my fiance and I are both very interested in the paranormal activity and the investigations and we believe that if you try hard enough, keep searching, and never give up hope you will soon find what it is your looking for. We wish you the best of luck.
I can't say anything about this that hasn't been said, but guess what? We have hosted our family reunions there since before I was born! I had always been intrigued by the grave, and my grandmother told me it was probably a war hero. Recently, my younger cousin took an interest in the paranormal life and we searched for hauntings in Kentucky and stumbled across this. As soon as I read what the grave said, I froze up, then we decided to look up more information and pictures. The pictures confirmed it. We've been having our little get togethers at the sight of a possible haunting! It was all very exciting for me.